Fair Trade Recycling Offset - Africa Launch
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The narrative around litter, pollution, trade, and dumping in Africa has been overly simplified in the USA and European press. While it is true that junk TVs sold to wire burning #ScrapSector workers in junkyard like Agbogbloshie (Accra, Ghana) were once imported as used TVs from Europe and USA and Japan (often from hotel upgrades to flat screens 2 decades ago), it is categorically false that Africa's #TechSector - who purchased them and originally imported them in the past, did so to externalize waste dumping.
Unfortunately, an unfamiliar "green" movement fell for a bad statistic - a claim that 80% of what Africa's Tech Sector imports is very soon dumped. It promoted a claim that Africans were incapable of doing simple electronics repairs. The insidious stereotype of African #TechSector entrepreneurs as orphan-victim or corrupt-incompetent-polluter could have been very simply defused. The raw number of TV stations and TVs per household 30 years ago would predict the age and quantity of TVs at African dumps. The simple math on the cost to import a container would have dispelled the claims that 80% of what Africa imports is destined to "primitive" recycling.
Still, Africa's Tech Sector - generally the best and brightest, the valedictorians of Peace Corps classrooms - understand that Africa needs to deal with the junk imported by African grandfathers.
This trial of Fair Trade Recycling offsets will fund a week's collection of old junk (including plastic litter left in gutters, soon to be washed by the tons into oceans during the rainy season) so that these Tech Sector entrepreneurs can demonstrate a NET OFFSET. For every ton of used electronics these workers have imported last year, they will administer collection to clean up their African neighborhood.
Tech Sector will benefit from a less racially stereotyped story.
Scrap Sector will benefit from educated supervisors (Tech Sector oversight)
Africa's residents will benefit from a cleaner landscape.
The oceans will benefit from plastic litter diversion.
The PetroChemical Industry will benefit if they embrace this FairTradeRecycling venture, as they did with Keep America Beautiful. While controversial today for its self-interest, KAB did create a cleanup campaign which is desperately needed in Africa. If the Plastics Industry follows our lead, they may find it simpler to pay Africans (And Asians, Pacific Islanders, South Americans, etc) to collect litter than it is to fund a recycling infrastructure to recycle plastic cups and straws.
If successful, we intend to grow this concept with the help of WR3A.org, WasteAid, EndOceanPlastic, RecyclingPartnership, and various DEP Recycling Programs (who can take credit in their own landfill diversion goals for "ocean diversion" in nations who share our oceans with us).
Visit FairTradeRecycling
Unfortunately, an unfamiliar "green" movement fell for a bad statistic - a claim that 80% of what Africa's Tech Sector imports is very soon dumped. It promoted a claim that Africans were incapable of doing simple electronics repairs. The insidious stereotype of African #TechSector entrepreneurs as orphan-victim or corrupt-incompetent-polluter could have been very simply defused. The raw number of TV stations and TVs per household 30 years ago would predict the age and quantity of TVs at African dumps. The simple math on the cost to import a container would have dispelled the claims that 80% of what Africa imports is destined to "primitive" recycling.
Still, Africa's Tech Sector - generally the best and brightest, the valedictorians of Peace Corps classrooms - understand that Africa needs to deal with the junk imported by African grandfathers.
This trial of Fair Trade Recycling offsets will fund a week's collection of old junk (including plastic litter left in gutters, soon to be washed by the tons into oceans during the rainy season) so that these Tech Sector entrepreneurs can demonstrate a NET OFFSET. For every ton of used electronics these workers have imported last year, they will administer collection to clean up their African neighborhood.
Tech Sector will benefit from a less racially stereotyped story.
Scrap Sector will benefit from educated supervisors (Tech Sector oversight)
Africa's residents will benefit from a cleaner landscape.
The oceans will benefit from plastic litter diversion.
The PetroChemical Industry will benefit if they embrace this FairTradeRecycling venture, as they did with Keep America Beautiful. While controversial today for its self-interest, KAB did create a cleanup campaign which is desperately needed in Africa. If the Plastics Industry follows our lead, they may find it simpler to pay Africans (And Asians, Pacific Islanders, South Americans, etc) to collect litter than it is to fund a recycling infrastructure to recycle plastic cups and straws.
If successful, we intend to grow this concept with the help of WR3A.org, WasteAid, EndOceanPlastic, RecyclingPartnership, and various DEP Recycling Programs (who can take credit in their own landfill diversion goals for "ocean diversion" in nations who share our oceans with us).
Visit FairTradeRecycling
Organizer
Robin Ingenthron
Organizer
Middlebury, VT
